Inheritance Tax & Wealth Planning - Tapa blanda

Inheritance tax (IHT) has been described as a 'voluntary' tax, but without careful planning it is unlikely to be so. More and more ordinary people are being caught by a tax that many still think applies only to the very wealthy - but this is no longer true. IHT currently applies to all estates over £600,000 and the recent huge increases in property values means that many more people now face the shock of massive tax bills on top of the emotional trauma of losing a parent. This expanded and fully updated third edition explains the pitfalls and spells out how to avoid them, from the simple necessity of making a will to the more complex use of trusts and gifts made before death. By following its invaluable and expert advice, it should be possible to minimise tax, and to make sure you pass on as much as possible of your hard-earned wealth - including your flat or house - to your heirs. When Alan Johnston, the last western journalist who dared to remain in Gaza, was kidnapped by religious terrorists - millions of people, from the backstreets of Gaza to London, New York and Johannesburg, felt the need to express their anger and their determination to see him free. The captivity of Alan Johnston was a historical attack on the freedom of speech - and this collection of his dispatches is the long awaited and moving account of life in Gaza, his ordeal and his release. He talks of the room in which he was held, how he was stripped of his watch and could only tell the time by the passage of the sun and the five calls to prayer from mosques. His captors allowed him to see his parents' television appeal and he tells of the relief to see his father's 'powerful and dignified' address. He evokes the psychological battle to keep control of his mind in these extreme conditions and his deeper sense of the value of freedom...

Wendy Walton is the inheritance tax specialist at BDO Stoy Hayward, which is a member of the BDO International network, the world's fifth largest accountancy organisation.